Top latch for windows



Aug. 28,1928. 1,681,989

C. A. LEWIS TOP LATCH FOR WINDOWS Filed April 5, 1927 against accidental releasing and Patented Aug. 28, 1928 CLAUDE ALEXANDER LEWIS, OF HOUSTON,

COMPANY, OF HOUSTON, TEXAS,

TEXAS, ASSIGNOR TO AMERICAN WINDOW A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

T013 LATCH FOR WINDOWS.

Application filed April 5,

' y invention relates to an improvement in latches to be employed at the upper ends of window sashes, which are mounted to swing inwardly on a pivot at their lower ends.

My invention is to be employed in connection with the upper window sash of any ordinary type of window, which is so mounted as to swing inwardly at the upper end to provide a vent or to be moved entirely into reversed position so as to expose the outer face of the window pane inwardly toward the operator for washing or otherwise.

In moving the upper end of a window sash,

and particularly the heavier types of steel window sashes, there is danger that the upper end of the sash may fall inwardly upon the operator during the reversing movement and injure the operator and perhaps also the window.

It is an object of my invention to form a latching means for the upper end of the sash which will be automatic in its operation for venting purposes and which will be proof dropping during the operation thereof.

It is a. further object to provide means for holding the window in vented position which may be easily released by hand and which will automatically release in case of fire.

The invention resides particularly in the construction and arrangement of the parts making up my improved window latch and attention is called to the accompanying drawings for a more complete showing of the invention.

In the drawing, Fig. 1 is a view illustrating the upper end of the window sash and the window frame with my invention applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the plate to which the operating chain may be attached. Fig. 3 is a vertical section through the upper end of the window frame illustrating the attachment thereto of my retaining plate, together with the broken upper end of the sash and the co-operating latch. Fig. 4 is an end view of a. bell crank lever employed with the invention; and Fig. 5 is a side view of said lever. Like numerals of reference are employed to designate like parts inall the views.

Although my device is adapted to be employed with any type of window, it is particularly adaptedfor steel window frames and sashes in which the weight of the Window 1927. Serial No. 181,019.

sash attains a material amount. In the drawing, the numeral 1 designates the broken upper end of the window sash, the sides thereoof being broken away. The window pane is shown at 2. The upper end of the sash as illustrated in Fig. 3 is made of hollow metal, the front portion of which is extended upwardly above the body of the sash forming a plate 3, which is extended outwardly to cooperate with an angular plate 4 upon the window frame. The outer portion of the sash is also bent upwardly to reinforce the upright portion of the front plate, as clearly seen from the drawing.

The window frame is also of heavy sheet metal. The lower face above the window sash is extended outwardly and downwardly at 5 and is secured to the plate 4 upon the outer plate 6. The plate 5 is inclined inwardly adjacent the lower end of the plate 4 and has an overhanging lip 7 above the plate 3 upon the sash. It will be obvious that when the sash is in the closed position shown in full lines in Fig. 3, there will be a weather tight fit between the sash and the frame.

My latch, which is mounted upon the window frame and the sash, includes a latching bar 8 mounted at the upper rim of the sash and slidable in brackets 9 upon the sash. The said brackets 9, as may be seen from the different views shown in Fig. 3, comprise plates of sheet metal secured to the forward face of the sash at points spaced from the central line of the window, said plates being extended upwardly for a suitable distance and then recurved downwardly and secured at 10 to the upper face of the plate 3 of the sash. Between the adjacent sides of the plate 9 thus bent is formed a slot 11 within which the latch bar 8 may slide. There are two of these plates 9, said plates being spaced approximately equal distances from the center of the sash.

The latching bar 8 is a flat plate of metal, one end 12 of which has an upwardly inclined cam face 13 extending from the lower edge to a point spaced slightly from the upper edge ending at the lower edge of a finger 14 which projects laterally from the plate and is adapt-- ed to fit within a retaining opening in a cooperating plate 15. The cam face 13 is adapted to contact with a cross pin or rivet, 16 extending through the plate 9 and serving to guide the latching plate upwardly, as will be later described. The opposite end of the latch bar 8 is formed with an inclined slot 17 therein within which a pin or rivet 18 is fitted, said pin extending transversely through the two walls of the plate 9, as will be understood from the drawing. This end also of the latching plate is provided with a laterally extending finger 19, also adapted to co-operate with the retaining plate.

The construction of the retaining plate is best seen in Fi 3. It includes an attaching plate 20 adapted to fit against the forward face of the window frame and to be secured thereto by screws or rivets or similar means. At one edge of the attaching plate 20, a retaim ing arm 21 extends forwardly beneath the ledge of the frame to a point closely adjacent the forward end of said window frame. The end of the arm 21 is extended downwardly to provide behind it, a stop member 22. lm mediately adjacent the stop finger is an upwardly extending notch 23 to engage with the latch member, and from this notch the lower side 24 of the arm 21 is inclined downwardly to a point spaced somewhat from the window frame. A second arm 25 at the lower side of the plate 20 is extended forwardly beneath the arm 21. This arm has a notch or recess 26 below the base of the arm 21 and the forward upper face of the arm 25 is formed with a latch engaging notch 42 below the notch 25 of the upper arm. Beyond said notch 42 the upper edge is beveled downwardly at 27. The arm 25 has been extended so as to provide a stop lip at 42, as described. 1f the sash were vented and the chain should accidentally be released from the plate 33, the

latch bar 8 would drop and a blowing wind would then hold the fingers 14 and 19 against the stop lip 42, which would prevent the sash from crashing inwardly.

The latch bar 8 is operated by means of a bell crank lever 28. Said lever is pivotally mounted upon apin 29 in the upper sash and I have shown said pin approximately midway between the sides of the sash. The said lever has a short arm 30 extending laterally therefrom, the outer end of which is provided with an opening 31 to receive the link 32 of a chain. Said chain may be of any desired'construction and of a length suliiclent to reach 7 to the upper end of the lower sash.

The lower sash is equipped with a plate 33 which has an inwardly extending bracket 34 thereon, said bracket being notched to receive the chain, as shown in Fig. 2. T have shown the plate 33 as provided with a forward arm 35 to receive the end of a window pole by means of which the sash may be operated.

The bell crank lever 28 has a short inwardly extending arm 36 on the side thereof, opposite the arm 30, said arm 36 being shown best in Fig. 5. It is provided with an opening 37 therein to receive the hooked end upon a window pole by which the lever may be operated.

finger 38, shown best in Fig. 4, which is adapted to engage within an opening 39 in a link 40 of fusible metal. The opposite end of the link is pivotally secured at 41 to the latch bar 8.

In the operation of my device, assume that the sash equipped with mylatch bar thereon is in open position, as shown at A in Fig. 3. When the sash is swung inwardly, the lower edge of the fingers 14 and 19 will ride along the inclined surface 27 of the arm 25 and when the sash is in closed position, the fingers 14 and 19 on the bar 8 will drop within the recesses 26 in the retaining arms at each side of the latch bar upon the window frame.

1t is to be understood that the sash is pivoted at its lower end at a point toward the forward side of the sash so as to cause the sash to automaticallyswing outwardly after it reaches a point within the line of theretaining arm 21, shown particularly at B in Fig.

When the window is to be thrown into Vented position, shown at B, the operator will draw downwardly on the chain so as to raise the latch bar 8 from the recesses 26 in the retaining brackets, throwing the latch bar up against the inclined surface 24 and then drawing forwardly on the chain to move the sash into the position shown at B. If the latch is held in the position against the finger 22 on the arm 21, the window sash will remain in vented position. The chain will then be secured upon the retaining bracket 33 on the lower sash. 7

When the sash is to be again released, the chain will be detached from the retaining bracket 33 and when the chain is released upwardly the window will automatically fall into closed position due to gravity, as previously explained. Tt will be obvious that the operator cannot move the sash from its position within the control the retaining arms 21 and 25 by means of the chain. If, therefore, the sash is to he swung inwardly beyond the arm 21 into reversed position, a window pole mustbe used. The hooked end thereof will be engaged within the opening 37 in the bell crank and when the latch isto be raised from its position in the notches 26 of the retaining arm, the operator willpush upwardly on the pole moving the latch bar upwardly out of the recess. He will then draw forwardly on the window sash with the pole and guide the latch fingers 14 and 19 between the two arms through the gap 43 and then he may draw downwardly on the pole and the latch will swing'clear of the retaining arms and may he allowed to swing downwardly into reversed position. It will be obvious that whenever the sash is released from the control of the retaining arm 21, it will be controlled by a rigid'pole in the hands of the operator and cannot accidentally drop out of The upper arm of the bell crank has a hooked his control.

The fusible link connecting the operating lever 28 with the latch bar is placed in such position that when the sash is in the Vented position controlled by the retaining arm 21, the link will be presented outwardly so that, if in case of fire the flames enter above the window sash, they will strike directly nst the fusible link, causing it to melt and thus releasing the latch bar allowing it to fall and also allowing the window to drop into closed position shutting off the flames.

It will be seen that I have provided a latch for the upper end of the window sash, which may be easily operated, but which will be proof against accident and automatically closing in case of fire. It will be impossible to reverse the upper sash by means of the chain but it may be easily reversed by means of a rigid pole, but when the pole is used liability of accident is eliminated.

Further advantages of the construction will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. In a window including a casing, a frame, a sash pivoted at its lower end to swing in said frame, a latch on said sash, flexible means to raise said latch, retaining plates on said casing adapted to be engaged by said latch bar and limit the swinging of said sash to a vented position when said latch is operated through said flexible means, said latch bar being released from its vented position on said retaining means in the manner described.

2. In a window including a casing, a frame, a sash pivoted to swing in said frame, a latch bar on said sash, flexible means to raise said latch, retaining plates on said casing adapted to be engaged by said latch bar and limit the swinging of said sash to a vented position 7 .n said latch is operated through said flexib e means, said latch being formed for control by a rigid operating means, when desired, wh reby the sash may be released and moved free of said retaining plate.

3. In a window including a casing and an upper sash pivoted at its lower end in said frame, the combination of a latch bar on said sash, a retaining plate on said casing, a lever engaging said latch bar to slide it laterally on said sash, means to raise said bar when said bar is moved by said lever, a flexible operating member to move said lever, and means on said retaining plate to engage said latch bar and limit the swinging movementof said sash un der the influence of said operating member.

4. Ina window including a casing and an upper sash pivoted at its lower end in said frame, the combination of .a. latch bar on said sash, a retaining plate on said casing, a lever on said sash engaging said latch bar to slide it laterally and upwardly, a flexible operating member to move said'lever, and means on said retaining plate to engage said latch bar and limit the swinging movement of said sash under the influence of said operating member.

, 5. In a window including a frame and a sash pivoted to swing inwardly at its upper end, the combination of guide plates on the upper end of said sash, a latch bar slidable in said guide plates, a lever on said sash operatively connected to said bar to slide it laterally, means on said guide plates to move said bar upwardly as it slides laterally, and retaining plates on said frame, adapted to en gage said bar for the purpose described.

6. In a window including a frame and a sash pivoted to swing inwardly at its upper end, the combination of guide plates on the upper end of said sash, a latch bar slidable in said guide plates, a lever on said sash operatively connected to said bar to slide it laterally, flexible means to operate said lever in one direction only, said lever having an arm thereon to be engaged by a rigid operating means, means on said guide plates to move said bar upwardly as it slides laterally, and

retaining plates on said frame, adapted to engage said bar for the purpose described.

'7. In a window including a frame and a sash pivoted to swing inwardly at its upper end, the combination of guide plates on the upper end of said sash, a latch bar slidable in said guide plates, .a lever on said sash operatively connected to said bar to slide it laterally, flexible means to operate said lever in one direction only, said lever having an arm thereon to be engaged by a rigid operating means, means on said guide plates to move said bar upwardly as it slides laterally, and retaining plates on said frame, adapted to en gage said bar to limit the swinging movement of said sash in both directions when said lever is operated by said flexible means.

8. In a window including a frame and a sash pivoted at its lower end to swing in said frame, the combination of a latch bar supported at the upper end of said sash, a retaining plate on said frame adapted to be en gaged by said latch bar, means to move said latch, flexible means thereon whereby said latch may be moved into raised position only, said retaining plate acting to engage and limit the swinging movement of said sash and bar when said latch bar is in raised position, and a rigid handle to engage said latch moving means whereby said latch bar may be moved in either direction to free it of said retaining plate.

9. In a window including a frame and a sash pivoted at its lower end to swing therein, a latch retaining plate on said frame, a latch bar supported on said sash and adapted to engage said plate when said sash is in closed position or in vented position, a flexible means to raise said latch whereby said latch will remain within the control of said retaining plate, said latch adapted to be enlUO gaged by a rigid operating handle to move said latch from vented position free of said retaining plate and to release said sash.

-1O. In a Window a frame, a sash pivoted at its lower end to swing; in said frame, a latch bar at the upper end of said sash, a retaining plate on said frame, a stop arm on 11. In a Window, a frame, a sash pivoted at its lower end to swing in said frame, a latch bar at the upper end of said sash, a retaining plate on said frame, a stop arm on said plate shaped to limit the forward movement of said latch when said latch is raised, said sash being balanced to close from any position along said re 'aining plate, and flexihle means to raise said latch and a bracket to engage said means and retain said latch and sash in vented position. i

In testimony whereof I hereunto alfix my signature this 28th day of March, A. D. 1927.

CLAUDE ALEXANDER LEWIS. 

